POLYCHLORINATED BIPHENYL IN SOIL AROUND MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE DUMPSITES IN SELECTED AREAS OF DELTA STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

The concentrations and risks of 28 polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) congeners in soil profiles from selected dumpsites in rural, semi-urban and urban areas in Delta State, Nigeria were investigated. A total of 27 soil samples were quantified for Ʃ28PCBs with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry after soxlet extraction with n-hexane/dichloromethane and purified with florisil and silica gel column. The concentrations of Σ28 PCBs in the dumpsites soil ranged from 4.18 to 20.5 ng g−1, 3.02 to 47.0 ng g−1 and 5.29 to 44.5 ng g−1 for the rural, semi-urban and urban areas, respectively. The results shows a distribution pattern of Ʃ28PCBs in order
of urban area > semi- urban> rural area and PCBs congeners in the dumpsites soils originated from industrial and electrical waste. The ecological risk assessment indicated that there were various degrees of ecological risks of PCBs in the soils while the human health risk assessment indicated that there were adverse non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic risks associated with PCBs in the soils.